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Political Guide

About the necessity of an organization for the non-religious
and atheists

Over one billion people world-wide are not members of any
religion or church (see Encyclopaedia Britannica,
demographical data for mid 1998), whilst the number of convinced
atheists is estimated at 150 millions. Despite this impressive
figure, however, in political life the non-religious and atheists
in nearly all countries hardly make an appearance.

In Germany, about one third of the population
does not belong to one of the two main churches. Most of these are
not members of any religious community at all. Secessions from the
church have resulted in a slow, but continually growing increase in
people without any denomination. A corresponding increase in their
political significance on the other hand is not in sight.

The main Christian churches, however, maintain their unique
power even today. Whilst even church members' unconditional belief
in Christian doctrines continues to dwindle and religious belief is
playing an ever decreasing role in every-day life, not everybody
who has become estranged from the church and religious belief finds
his/her way to leaving the church. Some recoil from the
bureaucratic hurdles placed in the way, e.g. going to the registry
office or local court (1. Privileges of
the churches, Law and church status). Others might remain a
member of the church wrongly assuming that they are making some
sort of contribution to the performance of their social duties by
paying their church taxes (3. Work
and social affairs, Germany). Idleness and a misdirected social
sense of duty ensure that the churches continue to maintain a
considerable number of members.

The power of the main Christian churches is, of course, not only
based on the number of their members. Further pillars of the power
of the churches include their monopoly in social affairs, their
immense property possessions, the church tax privilege as well as
huge amounts of money going from the state to the churches, a
religious education that is recognized as a regular subject of the
curriculum, a variety of internal publishing organs and with them
the means to exert influence over the other media.
Church-orientated politicians of many parties are transferring the
influence of the churches into state politics.

The rights and interests of the non-religious and atheists
continue to be cut back or ignored again and again. Our state's
duty of philosophical and religious neutrality is disregarded.

Aims of IBKA

The Internationaler Bund der
Konfessionslosen und Atheisten e. V. (International League
of Non-Religious and Atheists; IBKA) wants to contribute to the
more efficient representation of the political interests of the
non-religious, agnostics and atheists. Therefore we are striving
for the development of IBKA into a strong interest group for the
non-religious, agnostics and atheists supporting human rights,
rational thinking, individual self-determination (5. Self-determination) and tolerance.

The general human rights IBKA is concerned with are the
"inalienable individual rights of each human being" (IBKA by-laws).
This means: Each individual has the inalienable right to personally
exercise all of his or her human rights.

For IBKA, human rights are not merely rights of freedom, but
also social rights. IBKA regards it to be every society's duty to
create the conditions required to enable each individual to
exercise his or her rights and to develop his or her
personality.

Incompatible with IBKA's aims are folkish and racist ideologies,
anti-Semitism and hostility to foreigners.

Naturally, IBKA particularly focuses on the human right of
religious freedom, or in more general terms, on "the philosophical
freedom as the freedom to - either publicly or privately - profess
one's religious or non-religious views or to refrain from doing so"
(IBKA by-laws).

The unconditional implementation of this philosophical freedom
requires that the state exercises its philosophical/religious
neutrality: no human being shall be given preference over or be
discriminated against on the grounds of his or her religious or
non-religious views, and no religious or philosophical community
shall be given preference over or discriminated against by the
state.

A close cohesion between the state and churches and other
religious communities jeopardizes the philosophical/religious
neutrality of the state. Therefore IBKA demands the consistent
separation of state and churches, of state and religious and
philosophical communities.

A further problem is that the churches are a major employer in
the so-called social sector (nursery schools, hospitals, homes for
the aged or disabled, advice centres...; 3.
Work and social affairs). For this reason, IBKA for some time
now has accepted extraordinary members who, for economical or
social reasons, are forced to belong to a religious community
against their convictions; we call this "forced
confessionalization".

Activities of IBKA

The activities of IBKA focus on three main areas:

To criticize religion as an ideology;

To criticize the socio-political role of the churches and other
religions or denominations;

To represent and enforce the rights of the non-religious,
agnostics and atheists.

For IBKA, religions as ideologies of empty promises referring to
the hereafter, and the churches as their organs, are among those
social powers aimed at preventing humane conditions of life and
repressing the creative mind working towards the realization of
those conditions.

The International League of Non-Religious and Atheists
(IBKA) wants to make the public more aware of this problematic
area and promote its discussion in public.

This theoretical discussion leads to practical demands, duties
and consequences.

Each chapter of this Political Guide is followed by the
respective demands of IBKA.

This Political Guide of International League of
Non-Religious and Atheists (IBKA) was adopted on October 15,
2000. It was amended on September 27, 2003 and on October 10, 2005.
Translated from German in co-operation with Cornelia Boltz.
Copyright 2001-2005 IBKA e. V.